Disney World offers Floridians fleeing Hurricane Idalia and its aftermath 50% off hotels – as resort remains open and kids are seen enjoying the empty park amid devastation
Walt Disney World in Florida is offering discounted stays and waiving cancellation fees for those affected by Hurricane Idalia.
The resort announced Tuesday that there would be a 50 percent discount on new hotel bookings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights made by Florida residents fleeing the storm, or first responders assisting with the evacuations.
The company also said they are waiving cancellation and change fees for those who had already booked for arrival Monday through next Monday, Sept. 4.
Idalia had weakened to a tropical storm by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday and was near the South Carolina coast at 8 p.m., with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph.
A family braves the rain from Hurricane Idalia at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World on Wednesday
Intrepid Disney fans are taking advantage of reduced crowds at Disney World on Wednesday
Idalia made landfall south of Tallahassee, in Taylor County, at 7:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday, with winds reaching 125 mph as a Category 4 storm.
Two people are known to have died as a result of the storm – both in weather-related car crashes in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to PowerOutage.us, about 280,000 customers in Florida were without power as of Wednesday afternoon, the vast majority of them in the Big Bend region where Idalia made landfall.
About 175,000 customers were without power in Georgia as the center of the storm approached the Savannah area.
Three hundred miles south of the storm’s path, some braved the torrential rains in the Orlando area to visit Disney World.
On Wednesday, people brave the rain in Florida to visit Disney World
Typhoon Lagoon water park was closed on Wednesday, as were Winter Summerland Miniature Golf and Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf, but all other venues were operating as usual, and footage shared on social media showed Disney fans in ponchos braving the deluge to take advantage. the abnormally empty park.
The Orlando airport remained open, but the Tampa airport was closed.
Florida airports that have been closed are now planning to reopen.
The Federal Aviation Administration warned on social media on Wednesday that the storm is causing flight cancellations and severe weather could affect flights beyond the immediate area.
Tampa International Airport announced Wednesday afternoon that it will reopen for arriving flights and that departing flights and normal operations will resume early Thursday.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport said it would reopen Wednesday afternoon and flights would resume Thursday.
And Sarasota Bradenton International Airport reopened Wednesday morning.
Florida had feared the worst while still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Ian, which hit the densely populated Fort Myers area and left 149 dead in the state.
Unlike that storm, Idalia blew into a very lightly populated area known as Florida’s “nature coast” — one of the state’s most rural regions, far from busy metropolises or busy tourist areas and with millions of acres of undeveloped land.
That doesn’t mean it hasn’t done major damage.
Running water covered streets along the coast, small boats let go, and nearly half a million customers in Florida and Georgia fell out.
In Perry, winds blew out shop windows, ripped siding off buildings and knocked over a gas station canopy.
A gas station in Perry, Florida, can be seen blown over after Hurricane Idalia
An airboat sails through floodwaters in downtown Crystal River
Kayakers paddle through the floodwaters in Crystal River on Wednesday
An aerial view shows burnt debris where a house used to stand in the community of Signal Cove in Hudson, Florida. During the storm, a power transformer exploded
A shelter in Winter Park, Orlando, is readied for those evacuating Tuesday
Heavy rain partially flooded Interstate 275 in Tampa and winds toppled power lines on the north side of Interstate 75 just south of Valdosta, Georgia.
The storm surge can be as high as 16 meters in some places.
Some counties introduced curfews to keep residents off the road.
Less than thirty miles south of where Idalia made landfall, businesses, docks and homes in Steinhatchee, Florida, were engulfed by the water pouring in from Deadman’s Bay.
Police officers blocked traffic to the coastal community of more than 500 residents known for their fishing and forestry industries.
State officials, 5,500 National Guard and rescue crews were in search and recovery mode, inspecting bridges, clearing fallen trees and searching for anyone in need.
Due to the remoteness of the Big Bend area, search teams may take longer to complete their work compared to past hurricanes in more urban areas, said Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Department of Emergency Management.
“Maybe you have two houses on a five-mile road, so it’s going to take some time,” he said.
But he added that most people seem to have heeded the evacuation warnings.
The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented occurrence” as no major hurricanes have ever passed through the bay adjacent to Big Bend.